


Winters Disease

by winter_scldier



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-02
Updated: 2016-07-10
Packaged: 2018-07-19 14:44:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7365760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winter_scldier/pseuds/winter_scldier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky Barnes has been sick for a while. Ever since he woke up again, he knew something was wrong. He just doesn't know what to tell Steve...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Waking Up

The air suddenly seemed a lot warmer. There was a mechanical click, and life flooded back into Bucky. He was quickly greeted by a doctor and a few nurses quickly trying to retrieve him from the chamber.

His whole body felt limp and dead. They practically had to drag him over to an examination table, ready to warm him. Steve was standing by the table looking anxious. He knew that he had either been out for years, or Steve had been living in a constant state of stress since he went under. Either way wouldn't have been good.

The whole world seemed to go dark and cold again, despite every attempt to warm him. He heard the people around him panicking, and all of a sudden there was an awful pain in his chest. He couldn't hear or see anything anymore. The entire world had been plunged into another empty darkness.  
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>  
Bucky was suddenly shocked back into life with excruciating pain. As the world came back into focus, he felt someone holding his hand. Steve had a panicked look on his face as he firmly gripped his hand. Bucky noticed that his face was stained with dry tears. The nurses were frantically trying to inject an IV into him, trying to get his strength up again. 

Steve hadn't left his side since. He was so worried that his heart would go out again. But Bucky knew that something was wrong. Even he knew that his heart shouldn't be as weak as it was. He just didn't know how to tell Steve that he planned to go to the hospital to get tested.


	2. Silent Killer

Bucky knew it was going to be difficult hearing what they had to say. He had managed to a hospital without Steve knowing, and after ninety years of experience, he could tell by the doctor's facial expression that he wasn't going to receive good news. 

He felt anxiety growing within him as the doctor closed the door of the exam room. He sat down and sighed before carefully explaining the situation. Several years of Hydra drugs and torture and then seventy years of being frozen had really done a number on his brain. Even though he had the physical appearance of a twenty-nine year old, his organs were slowly failing. He described it as they were slowly starting to function as a ninety-nine year olds organs would. 

He slumped back against the bed sadly. It was going to be the total organ failure that killed him. Not a bullet. Not a blade. The doctor wanted to keep him in the hospital for a while, just because they had almost no way of telling exactly how much time he had left. Bucky didn't know what to say. He just sat there, waiting to snap back into reality.

He didn't want Steve to know. The last thing Steve needed was to be distracted from saving the world by knowing that his best friend could die any day. A tear ran down his cheek as he stood up and headed to the door, refusing to stay at the hospital until he needed to be there. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>  
Bucky arrived back at the apartment him and Steve were sharing and broke down. Against his own will, he collapsed onto the floor, tears streaming down his face. He had made it so far. He had survived the war. He had survived falling from a cliff. He had survived everything Hydra had ever done to him. Until now.

He knew Steve home late that night, so he just stayed there on the floor, sobbing quietly. He eventually got himself up and onto the couch, where he practically passed out from sadness and exhaustion.


	3. Survival

Steve came home that night to find Bucky passed out on the couch. He panicked, and almost called an ambulance before Bucky slowly sat up. The two simply stared at each other for a good while, each person carrying a secret. 

Steve pulled Bucky into a hug, telling him that he thought he was dead. Bucky tried to explain that he had simply passed out, but his body said otherwise. His skin had gone more pale, his eyes had lost their color. Steve tried to play it off as nothing, and said he was going to get some rest. Bucky went soon after him, and almost didn't wake up the next morning.  
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>  
He awoke gasping for air as he discovered Steve giving him CPR. He was in uniform for a mission, and he had tears streaming down his cheeks. Bucky watched the relief fall over his face as he caught his breath again. Steve was saying that he wasn't going to go on his mission that day. He was going to stay with him until he knew for sure he would be alright.

Bucky had never seen Steve sob before. Not even at his parents funerals. But here he was, breaking down at the fear of his best friend dying again. He collapsed on the floor, reaching for Buckys' hand. The two stayed there, Bucky still gasping for air, Steve on his knees sobbing until help arrived. 

He refused to go to a hospital. He insisted on staying in the apartment with Steve until his time came. The paramedics hesitantly complied, and left behind an oxygen mask.  
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>  
Bucky carefully explained to Steve everything that was killing him. At first, Steve was angry. He kept asking why he hadn't told him. But slowly as time went on, he slowly became more and more sad. He refused to leave except when they needed things. Bucky would listen to his cries from the other bedroom. He would listen to Steve pray for his life. Steve hadn't prayed since the forties.


	4. Sorry

It had been a few weeks since Steve found out. He would sit in his room every night, praying that he would at least get one more day with Bucky. But everyday he knew that the time was short. 

Bucky has just gotten worse and worse. His flesh lost its color, and even on oxygen his breathing was shorter. He kept getting weaker to the point where he couldn't even sit up by himself. Steve was helping him do everything. 

Steve knew it was only a matter of time.  
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>  
He knew leaving the building was a bad idea, so he called up Sam and asked if he could get them some food. After he got off the phone, he went and sat down next to Bucky. 

"Steve..." He said quietly. He weakly reached for Steve's hand. "I'm...sorry..." 

It happened so suddenly. He broke out into a coughing fit, gasping for air. His lungs collapsed, and he simply just couldn't breathe. 

His body went limp on the bed. Steve couldn't comprehend what had happened. He started screaming. 

He broke out into a sob as he tried CPR, sobbing Bucky's name, begging for them to bring him back. Sam heard the shouting and broke down the door. He froze in the doorway, before running in and trying to pull Steve away.  
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>  
It took a while, but Steve eventually calmed down enough to call an ambulance. The whole time they waited, he was holding Bucky's cold hand. 

"I love you..." He said shakily. A hearse showed up a few minutes later. They took his body away, and Steve fell to his knees in agony and despair. 

They were going to have a funeral for him, even though he had no family and hardly any friends. Most of the Avengers showed up, and they buried him just like he would've wanted. 

Like a soldier.


End file.
